Columban Father Gerald Peter “Jerry” Wilmsen, 86, died on April 6 in Bristol, Rhode Island.   

Born in Chicago, he was baptized at St. Basil and attended parochial schools before entering Quigley Preparatory Seminary in 1948.

He transferred to St. Columban’s Seminary in Silver Creek, New York, for his three remaining years of high school, after hearing a mission talk from a Columban priest.

He was ordained in 1959 and celebrated his first Mass at St. Richard Church.

He ministered in South Korea, then did vocation work while living at the Korean Center in Chicago before returning to Korea.

In 1988, he responded to a call for volunteers to teach in China. After language school, he spent most of the next decade teaching at universities in Wuhan and Guangzhou. He returned to the United States in 2000 and lived outside Hayward, Wisconsin, until deciding in 2015 to move to St. Columban’s House in Bristol.

He is survived by his brother, Lee Wilmsen.

Providence Sister Mary Patricia (Mary Janice) Cummings, 96, died April 12 in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana.  

Sister Mary Pat entered the Sisters of Providence in 1942 and professed final vows in 1949. In her 79 years as a Sister of Providence, she ministered as a teacher and principal and as a pastoral associate in Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Sylvester (1944-1948) and St. Genevieve (1959-1961) and was a pastoral associate at Immaculate Conception (1985-2000).

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Mary Alice (Elena) Neylon, 93, died April 14 in Hazel Green, Wisconsin

Born in Wisconsin, Sister Mary Alice made her first religious profession in 1949 and her perpetual profession in 1952. She taught school and English as a second language, was a director of an adult education center and was a pastoral minister for 31 years, working mostly in Hispanic ministries. She served in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Wyoming, the District of Columbia, Oklahoma and Florida, as well as Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Mary Alice taught at Trinity High School, River Forest (1959-1961), and St. Thomas the Apostle (1971-1973). She was a pastoral minister at Epiphany Parish (1983-1986) and served in Hispanic pastoral ministry at Good Shepherd Parish (1986-1994) and St. Pius Parish (1994-1999).

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Ellen (Moise) Shannon, 97, died April 17 in Hazel Green, Wisconsin. Her religious name was Sister Moise.

Born in Chicago, Sister Ellen made her first religious profession in 1944 and her perpetual profession in 1947. She was a teacher, principal, pastoral minister, convent prioress and convent business officer, and she recorded oral histories. She served in Illinois, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana and Washington.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Ellen taught at St. Basil (1944-1947), St. Richard (1947-1956) and Visitation. She was principal and a teacher at St. Patrick, Lemont (1962-1968) and principal of St. Luke, River Forest (1968-1974).

She is survived by her sister, Maryknoll Sister Kathryn Shannon.

Sister of St. Joseph Mary Thomas Eileen Coha, 91, died April 16.

A 1948 graduate of Nazareth Academy, LaGrange Park, she was a member of the congregation for 68 years.

Her ministry began in 1954. Until 1972, she served as prefect for younger students at Our Lady of Bethlehem Boarding School for girls in LaGrange Park. At the close of the school, she was involved in various internal ministries serving the Congregation of St. Joseph Community from 1972 to 2020.

She is survived by her brother, Thomas Coha.

Notre Dame Sister Helen (St. Helen Margaret) Kavanaugh, 85, died April 23 in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

Born in Chicago, Sister Kavanaugh attended Holy Rosary School and St. Louis Academy, and she earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Loyola University Chicago in 1957.

After professing her first vows in 1961, Sister Kavanaugh taught high school in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Illinois and Arizona. She also was director of formation for the congregation and a member of the province council.

She retired in 2019.

She is survived by her brother, Tim Kavanaugh.

Deacon Melquiades M. Maldonado, 89, died March 29 after a long illness. He was ordained in 1972 and served at St. Mark Parish. He served as president of the Renovación Carismática formed at St. Aloysius/St. Sylvester and helped expand it to other parishes.

Deacon Maldonado was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. He married Petra M. Rios in the Cathedral San Felipe Apóstol there in 1949, and had two sons before moving the family to Chicago in 1953.

The family had five more children in Chicago, where Deacon Maldonado worked at Zenith for many years.

After being ordained, he ministered at St. Mark and with other deacons formed the Renovación Carismática movement at St. Sylvester/St. Aloysius, and was on the Hispanic Catholic Carismática television program. He was instrumental in developing and implementing many programs for the charismatic movement through its retreats and conferences as a speaker and religious leader.

Deacon Maldonado is survived by his children  Melquiades Jr., Jose, Edgardo, Ruben, Jacqueline Torres, and Annette Ercole; 14 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother, Jose Antonio Maldonado. He was preceded in death by his wife, Petra, and daughter Gladys Torres.

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Alfonso Glancey, 95, died March 16 in Hazel Green, Wisconsin.

Born in Wisconsin, Sister Alfonso made her first profession in 1945 and her perpetual profession in 1948. She served in education for 69 years as teacher, principal, support staff member and volunteer in Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Alfonso taught at St. Sabina (1951-1955) and St. Brendan (1963-1968).

Adrian Dominican Sister Therese (Thomas Frances) DeCanio, 90, died March 17 in Adrian, Michigan.

She was in the 72nd year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation. Born in Chicago, she graduated from Aquinas Dominican High School.

She ministered in elementary and secondary education in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at Ascension, Harvey (1961-1963); St. Edmund, Oak Park (1963-1964); Regina Dominican High School, Wilmette (1975-1980); and St. Ignatius College Prep (1980-2010).

Sister Therese became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in Adrian in 2017.

Divine Word Father Stanley Uroda, 72, a missionary in Ghana and two-term provincial in the United States, died March 18 following a battle with cancer.

Born in Detroit, Father Uroda entered the high school seminary in 1962, professed vows in 1971 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1974.

After earning a master’s degree in education from Loyola University Chicago in 1976, Father Uroda was sent to Ghana for his first assignment. In 1984, he returned to the United States, and the following year was appointed as formation director of Divine Word Theologate in Chicago. He was elected vice provincial in 1990.

Father Uroda served as provincial superior for two three-year terms beginning in 1996. After completing his second term as provincial, he served as a parish priest in West Virginia.

In 2005, he returned to the Divine Word Theologate as rector. After nine years, he was asked to go to Vietnam.

When he returned to the United States in 2018, he became the superior for the Divine Word Community in East Troy, Wisconsin. In 2020, he moved to Techny for health reasons.

He is survived by his sisters Antoinette Alwin, Dorothy Alwin and Mary Seder.